Diploma of Automotive Management

The Diploma of Automotive Management is a 26-week qualification for people who want to run the business side of a workshop, dealership or automotive service operation. You'll study how a repair business actually makes money: quoting and costing jobs, managing parts and inventory, rostering technicians, dealing with suppliers, and keeping customers coming back. Expect units on business finance, workplace safety, team leadership and operational planning, all framed around automotive settings rather than generic office examples.

This sits at the diploma level on the Australian Qualifications Framework, below a bachelor degree. Australian diplomas are usually delivered as a set of units of study, each carrying credit points, and many providers run them across semesters or trimesters. Some diplomas include a capstone-style project where you pull the units together into one piece of work, and where the field uses it, a placement or work-based component. Check the official course page to confirm the exact units, credit points and delivery schedule for this course.

What you come out with is practical: the ability to read a profit and loss statement for a workshop, build a roster that covers the week without blowing the wage budget, and handle a difficult customer complaint without losing the job. The course suits people already working in the automotive trade who want to move into supervision or management, and people with some business experience who want to specialise in this industry. If you're an international student, you can work up to 48 hours per fortnight while your course is in session, and the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream may be available once you finish, depending on your circumstances.

English requirements for international applicants are set out on the official page. IELTS Academic 6.0 to 6.5 overall is the common standard for courses at this level, with TOEFL iBT, PTE Academic, Cambridge C1 Advanced and the provider's own English programmes accepted as equivalents. The Department of Home Affairs sets a separate English threshold for the Student visa itself, so meeting the course requirement does not automatically cover the visa. Tuition is published on the CRICOS register under course code 102700A.

• Workshop or service centre manager
• Automotive service advisor
• Parts and inventory manager
• Fleet maintenance coordinator
• Dealership business manager
• Automotive retail or aftermarket sales supervisor

These roles sit across Australia's automotive retail, repair and fleet sectors, from independent workshops to dealership groups and large fleet operators.